Agenda and draft minutes

The Licensing Panel considered the appointment of a Chairman for the meeting.

Resolved:

That Councillor Hutton be appointed Chairman for the meeting.

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned

(2) the nature of the interest concerned; and

(3) whether they have or have not sat on a Planning Committee which has previously considered a planning application in respect of a licensed premises which is also subject to consideration for a premises licence as part of the agenda for this meeting.

If any Member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman of the Panel will summarise the procedure and announce the equal maximum amount of time for each party to speak for the hearing.

A.         Items 1 and 4 (b) will be undertaken in private session by the Panel and not in the Meeting Room.

B.         Items 2, 3, and 4(a) will be recommended to the Panel to be held in public.

C.         The Panel may decide to exclude the public from all or part of a hearing where it considers that the public interest in so doing outweighs the public interest in the hearing, or that part of the hearing, taking place in public. (This includes a party and any person assisting or representing a party)

The Chairman explained the procedure for the meeting, including the order in which the application and representations would be heard and that each party would be allocated 20 minutes to present their case.

To consider an application for a new Premises Licence for the Coastal Bay Hotel, 377-379 Promenade, Blackpool, FY1 6BH.

A. Application and representations submitted. To consider the attached report.

B. Determination of the application for a new Premises Licence – Coastal Bay Hotel.

The Licensing Panel will indicate how the decision is to be communicated to interested parties.

The Licensing Panel considered an application for a new Premises Licence for the Coastal Bay Hotel, 377-379 Promenade, Blackpool, FY1 6BH. Mr Alan Diamond, director of the applicant company Coastal Bay Hotel Limited was in attendance accompanied by his representative Mr Oisin Daly of Absolute Licence Solutions and Mr Ian Smith, Fire Risk Assessor, Milwood Facilities. A representation had been made by the Licensing Authority who were represented at the meeting by Mr Lee Petrak, Trading Standards and Licensing Manager.

Mr Daly presented the case on behalf of Mr Diamond who had owned the hotel for a number of years. He accepted that there had been historic issues at the property when the previous Premises Licence held by another of Mr Diamond’s companies had been revoked in 2019 following serious fire safety concerns resulting in a prohibition notice being issued which had required the hotel to close. The Panel was advised that since that time there had been significant investment in the property and Mr Diamond had employed the services of Mr Smith, a Fire Safety Advisor, to undertake a fire risk assessment and provide expert advice on the measures that were required to bring the hotel up to standard, although the prohibition notice remained in place.

Mr Smith addressed the Panel and advised Members that he had surveyed the work that had been undertaken to date to ensure statutory compliance with issues such as electrical wiring and fire door regulations. In his opinion that work had been completed to a suitable standard and appropriately documented, with a rolling five year programme of testing to be implemented. The fire risk rating of the hotel had been reduced from “intolerable” to “moderate” however in order for the prohibition notice to be lifted a management structure was still required to be put in place to reduce the risk rating further to “tolerable”. Mr Smith advised that he would assist Mr Diamond in implementing that structure to include fire alarm testing and evacuation procedures, following which he would be satisfied that the hotel would be in a position to be re-inspected and the prohibition notice lifted.

Acknowledging that the prohibition notice remained in place, Mr Daly assured Members that there was no intention for the hotel to operate until that notice was lifted. He therefore invited the Panel to grant the application with the addition of a condition to the effect that no licensable activities would take place until the Fire Service and Blackpool Council’s Health and Safety Team had confirmed that the premises was compliant and the prohibition notice lifted. An independent fire safety consultant would also be employed by the Premises Licence holder with an annual report completed and interim inspections carried out.

Presenting the objection on behalf of the Licensing Authority, Mr Lee Petrak, Trading Standards and Licensing Manger, referred to the previous compliance failings at the hotel whilst it had been under Mr Diamond’s ownership. He accepted that some progress had been made following the advice received from Mr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.